Elo Hell
Elo Hell Split DLC Update
Bad news is that Elo Hell is not selling as well as expected. We are having a visibility issue. The people we can get to play the game are enjoying it, but we aren't getting enough people downloading the game to even begin understanding where we sit in this space. Personally, I think we're just too niche. I truly believe our game is awesome and one-of-a-kind, but it's very different and we need time to find our audience.
Because of this slowness, we have to slow down Elo Hell's release schedule and wait for people to discover it. Episodes 6-10 are on an indefinite hiatus until we can hit sales goals.
Good news is Elo Hell is not dead and we will be releasing episodes 1-5 this month. Episode 1 will remain free and episodes 2-5 will cost $15. Episodes 6-10 will not come out until we can afford to come back to it, but every sale made is going into a piggy bank to be used for if/when that time comes. All existing season pass owners will have the option to refund the game no matter how far you are.
So please know that coming into this, you can access what we have for $15 and that is contributing to the future of Elo Hell. Episodes 3-5 will have some minor rough edges compared to 1 and 2, but they will still be very strong. If we hit our goals, those episodes will get their final polish pass.
In the meantime, we'll be working on other, smaller projects. We may or may not return to Guncraft. We'll see ;).
We are 100% commited to Elo Hell. It's our baby, the product of 4.5 years of work, and a huge passion project, but at the same time, we need to see some interest in the game or else we are just burning money. This is a business at the end of the day and we have lots of bills to pay.
So if you want to see Elo Hell come back, please use the hashtag #SaveEloHell to spread the word. It'll be a slow return, but I'm optimistic that given enough time, we'll find our home.
GLHF,
John "Darknuke" Getty
Executive Producer
Exato Games
Episode 1 FREE. Episode 2 Out NOW!
Episode 2 is out now as well and it's all about the weird places esports are popping up. It is our most intricate episode this season. There are rides, minigames, and shenanigans. Lizzy is on the hunt for that chair. Think you'll win it? You'll be able to play if you have purchased the Season Pass. The pass will also include all future episodes in season 1, which there will be 10 of.
We even made ourselves a heckin' ridiculous fair commercial based on some of the county fairs we researched. You'll see.
The Elo Hell Experience
Elo Hell may be about esports, at its core, but it's also a journey through games themselves and the culture we've built around them. Each episode pays homage to some of the greatest and most interesting game design mechanics ever built and that does not only include video games.
We believe this is a one-of-a-kind experience and if you'd give us a chance, we believe you'll fall in love with the game. But you know, we are an indie studio and we have bills to pay. If this is something you think you'll enjoy, pick it up now. There's always the refund tool.
Elo Hell Sitcom Trailer, Massive Game Update, & Launch Date!
"Stuck in Elo Hell" Sitcom Intro Launch Trailer
Every good sitcom has a catchy intro, so we made one too! We guarantee you'll love it and it'll get you hyped for launch :D.
We launch July 30th, when we'll be increasing the cost of the game from $20 -> $30, so be sure to utilize the discount while you can.
Echo Star is finally ready to be released into the wild! It is an RTS-inspired, turn-based strategy game. We've taken the essence of games like Starcraft and Age of Empires and turn-based it to reduce stress and increase accessibility for us plebs who can't mash a keyboard at 300 actions per minute.
We've just released our final test build (work out the last remaining kinks), complete with an entertaining, meta-breaking tutorial, on Early Access RIGHT NOW!
Con Season 2019 & Updates
Elo Hell is on tour! Come check us out at these three upcoming conventions to see our premiere first episode in action. And yes, that is TwitchCon BERLIN! We're coming for you, Germany!
Episode 1: Butts in Chairs is a goofy episode about chair culture in esports with multiple minigames and potential endings. It will go live on Early Access PAX East weekend!
NEW EPISODES!
Episode 2: An Otter Day an Otter Dollar is near completion! The gang goes to the fair and fun games, rides, shenanigans, and surprises are in store for them along the way.
This episode is very nearly complete and will only see a short release into Early Access before being pulled to get ready for our real launch this summer. If you're interested in trying it, stay tuned to these newsletters to get more info.
MACHINE LEARNING
We've been hard at work on Echo Star and part of that work has been practicing our skills in machine learning. We've currently made an Asteroids game as well as Tetris. We'll be posting videos about how that goes to our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe to our YouTube!
Happy Elo Hell-oween!
To commemorate the season, we've launched our Halloween special episode of Elo Hell. This is a one-off episode we will be doing once per season to celebrate the holiday. Halloween is awesome, after all. It won't be strong in esports related content, but it'll be a fun romp through a haunted house with a bit of a Scooby Doo vibe.
Episode 1: Name a More Iconic Duo (that duo being Butts in Chairs), is in production right now and is nearing completion. That will be launched in a month or two and will be our first premiere episode. That episode is a bit about chair culture in esports and we got DXRacer to help us out with a sponsorship!
As for production, we are finding ourselves sitting in a good spot for getting episodes done. We learned a lot about our production schedule through finishing the Halloween episode and applied that to the iconic duo episode, to create an even more streamlined and purposeful pipeline.
Stay tuned for more info and in the long-term, we'll be showcasing some significant Echo Star changes around the first of the year (most likely). We're mega excited about those and will be itching to get them out. Until then:
GLHF!
-Darknuke
Hey, you! Yeah, I see you. Read this.
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Now, look. We get it. The game doesn't have a lot of story content right now, and that's what everyone is clamoring for. We'd like more too. In fact, that's what we're working on as we speak. We aren't asking you to LOVE the game right now. It's fine. Haters gon' hate. That's our Elo Hell. We know our game is good. Otherwise we wouldn't be spending so much effort on it. Here, have a preview of our Halloween episode :).
This is the deal: When you buy the game, you are getting a heavy $10 discount in exchange for banking early on us, being a part of our community, and helping us fine tune aspects of the game. Eventually, this game will be extremely content rich and you will be coming way out on top. There won't be a discount like this until probably the end-ish of season 1 in 2020. I kid you not. Until then, feel free to enjoy the game as much as you can and come back when we make big updates.
We have zero intention of quitting. We have the budget, drive, and production schedule to get us to launch. We're here to develop a grass roots core community. That's it.
Oh, and if you do decide to buy in and play, don't skim over the Echo Star tutorial. We are noticing a lot of people are and then are confused about what to do. We intend to add a voiced over tutorial in the future, but for now, you gotta read. We're also sorry if you can't find anyone to play with. Our AI programmer is hard at work on singleplayer AI for you to play against that isn't bad.
I hope this info helps. If this works for you, we openly and gladly welcome you aboard. If not, maybe we'll see you at launch for full MSRP.
GLHF
-Darknuke
Executive Producer & Lead Game Designer
Elo Hell is liiiive!
We made it to Early Access. Whew. Phase 1 complete!
This is a first step into a much larger journey for the game. We are ready to showcase some of the features and let you all get a glimpse into the great journey of Elo Hell's main character, Chance Betzinger.
We love the game as it is, but know it needs work. We are absolutely dedicated to turning this into an awesome experience unlike any narrative game you've played before, all wrapped around the glory that is the esports industry.
We invite you to join us on the journey and help guide the game in a way that is beneficial for all of us. We can't do this without you and can't wait to build this game with all of you.
GLHF!
Early Access Launch August 8th (for real)!
We are officially ready to launch! I know we said July 31st, but due to the way Steam's partner system works, we were told that our earliest launch date was "August 4th." That caused us to have to shift all our marketing plans to next week to keep everything together. When we were approved today, we found out we could release today, on time, and that the "earliest launch date" was basically nothing and we didn't have to listen to it /facepalm.
It would take us a lot to get all our partners ready for launch today, so we're going to take the extra week to clean stuff up and make next week's launch that much better. Nothing will hold us back now, so get ready! For next Wednesday, we ride!
-Darknuke
Early Access Launch Next Week!
Elo Hell has been in development for about 3 years now and we've gone through quite the journey to get here. We always knew what we wanted to do, but we didn't quite know how we wanted to do it. Creating the custom shader for our game, changing to a sitcom cinema style, and making Echo Star fun, unique, accessible, and challenging. These things sound trivial when written down in one sentence, but my god, it was a journey. Fun fact: We had no idea if Echo Star would be truly fun until 2 years into its development. Another fun fact: Elo Hell changed to a sitcom in the last 5 months (and omg that made a world of difference).
Yes, the game still needs work, but we are damn proud of what we've accomplished so far and unbelievably excited for the future of the game. Still, try to be gentle. We know there are plenty of little kinks here and there.
Esports are an industry very near and dear to us at Exato Games and the worst thing we could possibly imagine is creating a game that everyone plays and groans at. We hope that all of you signing on with us at the launch of Early Access will see the potential in the game and enjoy it in its current form. We have some pretty epic plans for this as a franchise and we want to begin this journey here, with all of our most hardcore early adopters.
We'll always be around when esports are involved. Look out for us in our Elo Hell jerseys. Feel free to say hi and ask us about the game.
-Darknuke & The Entire Exato Team
P.S. There's a small chance launch will be delayed a week if our build doesn't get approved for whatever reason, but we don't really see that happening as its very stable.
Update: Didn't include the redistributables... Ugh. That pushes our launch back to probably Thursday, Aug 2nd.